Hot metal car unloading



J. D. FUGH HOT METAL CAR UNLOADING Original Filed Jan. 22, 1935 7 3&3 i M119 M11/@Mmmm 5 Patented Feb. 11,1941

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE HOT METAL CAR UNLOADING r,lohn D. Pugh,deceased, late of Baltimore, Md., by

AddieA. Pugh, executrix,yBaltmore, Md., aS- signor to Addie A. Pugh, Baltimore, Md.` Original application January 22, 1935, Serial No.

Divided and this application December 7, 1938, Serial N0.` 244,482

4 Claims. (Cl. 214-64) The present invention relates to mobile containers for molten materials, generally designated hot metal cars and this application comprises a division of my Patent No. 2,144,637.

Mobile containers of the type made use oi in the transportation of molten materials such as iron and steel from a point of origin in `a steel plant to one or more points of destination, are now well-known and Widely used.` Such containers of the larger capacities are generally mounted upon wheeled trucks for .transportation along suitable trackways and are provided with heavy insulating linings. Molten material introduced into such a car will not lose its heat rapidly during transportation but will remain in molten condition for long periods of timeso as to be fluid when the car reaches its destination, or discharging point. In my prior Patent No. 1,251,282, issued December 25, `191'?, is described a form of mobile container or hot metal car, and the present car, while generally similar in its broader aspects to that disclosed in the aforementioned patent, includes a number of novel features which make it more useful for certain purposes.

An object of the invention is to provide a hot metal car which is so designed, and so supported,f that its molten contents may be dischargediin a novel manner, and by the use of novel and improved dumping or tilting means which is auxiliary to the container itself. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the operator is enabled to discharge either the entire contents of the container by a continuous pouring operation, or any portion of such contents, the 35 container being lifted bodily from its mobile supporting means and tilted upon auxiliary devices positioned adjacent the same, complete inversion of the container for cleaning purposes also being possible and the container being readily replace- 40 able after such discharging operation, upon the mobile supporting means upon which it normally rests. In order that the container may be lifted bodily from its mobile support and manipulated for discharging purposes in the manner just described, the connections between the container and its supporting trucks are so designed that, while preventing relative bodily movement of the container for support in a horizontal plane under the iniiuence of draft forces, disconnection of the container and supporting means is easily effected by the ,application of simple lifting forces to one side of the container body, and reconnection of the container to the moblie supports is' automatically eiected simply by the lowering of the container onto the supporting trucks.

In the embodiments of the present invention selected for disclosure by way ofexample, the hot metal ear as an entirety is so constructed as to be movable along the trackway to a point of discharge, at which point of discharge the container body is positioned directlyopposite certain toothed rack devices mounted alongside the trackway upon which the car moves. In some cases toothed racks so positioned with respect to the trackway may be moved toward the container body for engagement therewith and in other cases` such devices are mounted in fixed position so as to be engageable by certain cooperating means on the container when the container is manipulated for dumping purposes, such manipulation being effected by thelateral movement of the container and its mobile supporting means on a section of the rails of the trackway mounted on rollers. Contact is made between the container and the toothed rack upon which it turns with the aid of a hook and cable depending from an overhead crane and in tilting or dumping movement the container body is moved along a curved path, upwardly and outwardly, until all portions thereof'are entirelyclear of the sup- 2 porting trucks, the tilting movement of the container being continued to the desired extent. Any molten material or other substance which may be inthe container is, of course, discharged when such tilting or inversion takes place and, if the container is completely inverted, its interior lining may be conveniently examined and cleaned if necessary. i

To permit the elevation from and the return to the Wheeled supporting trucks of the conf tainer body the connections between the container body and wheeled trucks are designed in a novel and improved manner, this novel connecting means being claimed in my Patent No. 2,144,637. These connections readily permit the desired movements `of the container body independently of its supporting means while at the same time permitting, when the `container is positioned upon its supporting means, free swiveling movement of the supporting trucks relatively tothe container body and at the same time transmitting all draft forces from the trucks to the container body and Vice versa, any draft forces imposed upon the car passing through the container body, in every instance the car being unprovided with any continuous underframe, such as generally used in hot metal cars of previous types.

The several embodiments of the invention selected for disclosure by way of'eXample are il- Figure 3 is a generally similar View but showing a modified form of the laterally positioned means for supporting the container bodyduring dumping; and Y i Y Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section through a portion of the container and a portion of a supporting truck, showing the novel connecting means between container and' truck.

The hot metal container illustrated in Figure 1 is of the large capacity type, being able'to receive and store a body of molten iron or steel weighing in the neighborhood of two hundred tons.V It will be appreciated, however, that the actual sizeand capacity of the container may be varied as widely as desired and that the novel features of the inventionmay be made use of in hot metal cars of all capacities.

'I'he container of the hot metal car illustrated in Figure 1 is generally indicated at I ll and its shape is that of a form of revolution, with horizontal axis. Preferably it embodies a lcentral cylindrical portion II and two frusto-conical end v portions I2 rigidly attached to the central portion I I ,and tapering toward the ends of the container body.` The container ends I3 are conveniently formed as castings, rigidly secured to the outer ends of the frusto-conical sections I2. The container is lined with suitable insulating material and is provided with charging and discharging spouts I4, through which molten metal or the like may be poured into the container and which permit the ready outflow of such material when the container is tilted.

The container body I0 is mounted directly upon supporting trucks 20, no interposed car platforms or underframes being employed. YIn cars of large size, such as illustrated inFigure 1, each of the trucks 20 may have ten supporting wheels and may advantageously comprise a properly equalized and balanced consolidation of a six-wheeled truck 2| and a four-wheeled truck 22. Supported uponthe trucks 2| and 22 is a super-bolsterV -35 which is shown partly in solid and partly in dotted lin-es in Figure 1. The outwardly projecting end portion 38 of the super-bolster 35 supports suitable draft mechanism, of which the coupler 39 comprises a portion.

The inner adjacent ends of the trucks are exibly and -adjustably connected together as by means of the two transversely extending curved springs 40, bolted or otherwise connected together. This connecting and spacing means maintains the trucks inproper relationship to each other during the time that the container is removed therefrom, as hereinafter to be more fully described. By the use of the springs, or other equivalent `flexible connection between the adjacent ends of the trucks, free articulation of the trucks whenthe car is. passing around curves is permitted. The connecting means just described is of course not designed nor intended to transmit any portion of the draft forces, all of which forces are transmitted through the container body IQ.

The frusto-conical portions I2 of the container or ladle are provided with saddles 45 centrally of which are formed the rounded king pins 4S.

lbearing portions 49 and are normally spaced slightly below the side bearing portions 4'I of the saddle, at oneend of the car. end of the car the side bearings 41 are in con- At the opposite tact with the rollers 5I). This affords a substantially three-point suspension of the ladle on the two trucks and permits a certain flexibility or tilting of the relatively elongated car when Y rounding bankedl turns. This arrangement is only necessary in the case of exceptionally long cars having ladles or containers of large capacity. It will also be observed that, encircling each of the container ends I3,'and rigidly secured thereto, is a toothed annulus or gear 12.

The car thus far described may be charged at any desired pointand is freely movable along a trackway to any desired destination point, sometimes miles away from'the chargedpoint. In Figures 2 and A3 of the drawing is shown a car at a discharging point, the apparatusemployed for assisting in the discharge of the container I0 being shown.

In [Figure 2 of the drawing is illustrated a mechanism for cooperating with the container in unloading. ,In this form of the auxiliary unloading mechanismfextensible and retractible racks 'I0 are employed for engagement with the toothed rings l2' of the container. The toothed upper surfaces 'II of these racks, of which there are two arranged in parallelism, are preferably downwardly curved at the ends thereof closest to the trackway. The teeth of unloading racks 'I0 are, when projected forwardly toward a hot metal car, adapted to engageand mesh with the teeth of toothed segments 12, rigid with the car. The racks are supported for substantial horizontal movements `upon any suitable means, for instance, upon rollers 13 and 14, a horizontal flange I5 rigid with the outer end of each rack being supported for `vmovement upon roller 'I3 and guided by the relatively small roller 'I6 positioned above the same. 'I'he forward edge of each rack is provided with an inclined undersurface 'I'I which merges into a more steeply inclined undersurface 'I8 so that, as the rack is moved toward a container positioned as shown, its leading end will first be elevated slowly and thereafter more quickly, with the end in view of moving its end radially of the container body to insure ready meshing of the rack teeth II with the segment teeth 12, any suitable driving means, not illustrated, being provided to effect such movement of the racks into container engaging position. The driving means may be connected to each rack by means of a link 18', slide block 19,v and rotatable screw 89, having threaded engagement with block 19.

With the rack positioned as shown in full lines in Figure 2, and the teeth thereof in interlocking engagement with the teeth of segment 'I2 upon the container, it is obvious that a lifting force applied to the opposite side of the container as by means of a crane hook I8 I, will effect movement of the container about the interengaging teeth of rack and segment and that .the 4continued application of lifting forces will cause the container body to separate from the supporting trucks and to roll along .the parallel racks 'l0 into some such position as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, in which position the container l is completely inverted. For partial dumping purposes, of course, the container may be moved to some intermediate position and of course suitable runners for hot metal and the like are provided for the reception of discharged material. means connecting the supporting trucks and the container body of the car illustrated in Figure 2 are formed in a manner analogous to that illustrated in Figure 4 so that disengagement of the body from the supporting trucks is readily effected and likewise reengagement of body and trucks eiected without difficulty.

In Figure 3 of the drawing is illustrated an unloading arrangement in which the unloading racks are xed in position, instead of being movable toward and away from a fixed trackway.

Here the racks, one of which is indicated at 8 l, are mounted upon base members or pedestals one of which, indicated at 82, is partially illustrated. The rack teeth are indicated at 83 and it will be observed that the end of the rack which is adjacent the hot metal car is curved downwardly so that one or more of its teeth are disposed substantially radially to the axis of the container and positioned to readily intermesh with the radially extending teeth of the circular rack or segment 8d rigid with the container body. In order to effect engagement of the segments 8f3 and racks 8l, the car as an entirety is moved laterally, the supporting rails S5 of the trackway being mounted upon rollers 865 which permit this lateral movement of the track and hot metal car, Partial or complete discharge of the molten contents of the container may be eiected by the application of lifting forces to the side of the container remote from the racks 3l, as in the case of the forms of the invention previously described, the container body rolling upon the container supporting racks 8! to the desired discharging position, and being allowed to return by gravity, the means connecting the container and trucks readily permitting this manipuf lation of the container body as in the form of the invention already described.

Obviously the means mounting the container body l0 upon the supporting trucks must be designed and constructed especially to permit the ready elevation of the container in the manner described and the ready return of the container to its original position upon the trucks. This connecting means has been described in detail and is shown in Figure 4.

It will be appreciated that the forms of the dumping devices which are illustrated, and which have been described in detail, are set forth by way of example only and that the invention is applicable to still other forms of dumping devices. In every instance, however, the means connecting the container body to the mobile supports will be so designed and constructed as to permit ready removal and replacement of the container body and associated with this means will be a container supporting mechanism adapted for lateral relative movement with said container and upon which the The ' Vided.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination with a container for molten materials and a mobile support upon which the container rests, of means movable laterally of the container and its support into contact with the container when the support is at rest and upon which the container may be rolled after such contact is established, for the purpose of inverting the same.

2. The combination of a container shaped as a form of revolution and having two spaced circular series of external teeth disposed in planes normal to its axis, a mobile support for said container from which the container may be lifted, and two toothed skids positioned in the planes of the container teeth, respectively, and movable toward the container until the teeth thereof are in meshing relationship with the teeth of the container, said skidsbeing adapted to serve as container supports and the container being adapted to be rolled onto said skids after the teeth thereon have been brought into meshing relationship with the teeth of the container,

3. The combination with a container shaped as a form of revolution and having a plurality of spaced circular series of external teeth disposed in planes normal to its axis, a mobile support for said container from which the container may be lifted, and a plurality of toothed skids positioned in the planes of the container teeth, respectively, and movable toward the container until the teeth thereof are in meshing relationship with the teeth of the container, said skids being adapted to serve as container supports and the container being adapted to be rolled onto said skids after the teeth thereon have been brought into meshing relationship with the teeth of the container.

4. The combination with a container for molten materials and a mobile support upon which the container rests, of a toothed rack movable laterally of the container and its support into contact with the container when the support is at rest and upon which the container may be rolled after such contact is established, for the purpose of inverting the same, and means supporting said toothed rack and comprising rollers engaging the lower surface thereof, a portion of said lower surface being inclined so as to cause a raising of the container-engaging end of said rack as said rack moves toward said container.

ADDIE A. PUGH, Eecutrz'm of the Estate of John D. Pugh, De-

ceased. 

